Hometown hockey coming to Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls will be part of the 2017-18 Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour.
It was revealed Thursday morning that the Honeymoon Capital will be the first of 24 stops this season.
The two-day celebration of hockey takes place every Saturday and Sunday, this year beginning Oct. 7 and 8 at Niagara Parks’ Queen Victoria Park in Niagara Falls.
It is open to fans of all ages, free of charge.
Each week features special guests, musical acts and concludes with an outdoor viewing party of the Sportsnet broadcast.
Hosts Ron MacLean and Tara Stone will be on site to tee up each weekend’s matchup, with the Montreal Canadiens at the New York Rangers being aired nationally on Sportsnet and Sportsnet NOW at 6:30 p.m. when the tour hits Niagara Falls Oct. 8.
“Niagara Falls is the perfect choice to start another season-long journey exploring Canada’s hockey heritage,” said MacLean.
“With a rich hockey culture in the region, Niagara offers a waterfall of stories for us to tell. This tour is about discovering all the ways that hockey is woven into the fabric of our nation, and these opening communities will set the stage for a phenomenal season of doing just that.”
Haliburton Highlands, Ont., Charlottetown, P.E.I., and Truro, N.S., will follow Niagara Falls in October.
“I cannot wait to hit the road in October for another year of Rogers Hometown Hockey,” said Stone.
“These first four communities represent the start of another coast-to-coast exploration of not only how hockey unites us as Canadians, but also how beautiful every part of our country is. I’m ready to get the show started.”
Full festival details for each of the 24 stops will be announced at a later date.
Mayor Jim Diodati said it’s “pretty cool” Niagara Falls will be the first stop on the tour.
“Rogers is really excited to kick this off here in Niagara Falls, especially given the fact that we’re going to be hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs training camp (Sept. 15-17),” he said.
“This year we’re going to be hockey central.”
Diodati said hosting Hometown Hockey will be a good opportunity to engage the community’s local hockey groups.
“We’re going to try to get them all to come out in their jerseys, and then tell some of the stories, the unsung heroes of our community,” he said. “With the falls as a backdrop, that just amplifies whatever you do.”
The huge hockey festival came to downtown St. Catharines in December 2014, which took over a section of Market Square and Church and James streets.
Besides meet-and-greets with National Hockey League alumni, the event brought live bands, children’s activities, puck shooting practice, a ball hockey rink, NHL uniforms, and a warming lodge with free hot chocolate to the city core.
Everything at the event was free from sponsors, with T-shirts for the kids, gloves and hats, autographed pictures, coffee and activities. Nothing was being sold on site.
It all culminated with MacLean broadcasting live on Dec. 14, 2014, during the pre-game show for the Calgary Flames versus Chicago Blackhawks game.